How Much Do You Know About…Paint?

With Professor Brauer’s upcoming Sunday lectures about Degas, plus the MFA’s Degas exhibition we thought a quiz on was pertinent!

1. The color purple became associated with royalty because the pigment was:

A. From a far-away location.
B. Restricted to royalty.
C. Expensive.

2. What substance produced purple pigment during Roman times?

A. Verbena.
B. Mollusks.
C. Stones.

3. Who is credited with the discovery that you can mix two different paint colors to produce a third?

A. Plato.
B. Lao-Tzu.
C. Hammurabi.

4. In the Middle Ages, manuscripts were decorated with paint made from egg yolks and:

A. Feathers.
B. Stones.
C. Snails.

5. Among the Aztecs, what pigment color was regarded as more valuable than gold?

A. Yellow.
B. Blue.
C. Red.

6. How many years did it take Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel?

A. 4.
B. 15.
C. 8.

7. Who developed the color wheel?

A. Thomas Edison.
B. Sir Isaac Newton.
C. George Eastman.

8. What kind of paint does not dry?

A. Acrylic.
B. Encaustic.
C. Oil.

9. What color paint is the most calming?

A. Pink.
B. Blue.
C. White.

Answers:

1. B. The color purple became associated with royalty because at one time only aristocrats could afford the expensive pigment

2. B. During Roman times, it took 4 million crushed mollusk shells to create one pound of purple pigment.

3. A. The Greek philosopher Plato is credited with the discovery that you can mix two different paint colors together to produce a third color.

4. B. In the Middle Ages, manuscripts were “illuminated” with paint made from ground semi-precious stones and egg yolks.

5. C. Among the Aztecs, red pigmented paint was regarded as more valuable than gold.

6. A. It took Michelangelo only four years to paint the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the 1500s, but it took 20 years to restore it in the late 1900s.

7. B. The “color wheel” is older than the United States. It was developed by Sir Issac Newton in 1706.

8. C. Oil paints don’t dry. Instead they harden due to oxidation, usually in about two weeks, and are ready to be varnished in roughly six months. However, sometimes it takes years for an oil painting to fully harden!

9. A. Pink is the palliative color. Apparently, it suppresses anger and anxiety due to its calming effect. That is why prisons and mental health care institutions paint their walls pink to control the behavior of those out-of-control prisoners and patients.